Content targeting to particular individuals based on demographic and psychographic segmentations, utilizing the computer-implemented methods and specifically programmed computer systems for performing thereof

ABSTRACT

In some embodiments, the present invention is directed to a computer-implemented method which includes at least the following steps of requesting a consent to obtain an individual social media profile data; based on the consent, electronically obtaining the individual social media profile data from a social media electronic data source; determining individual specific parameters based on the individual social media profile data; matching the individual specific parameters to at least one segment identifier generated based on a predetermined segmentation of a target population of individuals; based on the matching, associating the at least one segment identifier with the individual social media profile data; and outputting an advertisement to the individual based on the at least one segment identifier associated with the individual social media profile data of such individual.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority benefit to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 61/711,867 filed Oct. 10, 2012, which is herebyincorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to methods and systems formatching users with appropriate advertising and entertainment media, andmore specifically to methods and systems for matching target audienceswith appropriate advertising and entertainment media based upon a usersocial media profile.

BACKGROUND ART

Target audience matching techniques are generally known. For example,U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012041792 is generally directedto a method of segmenting a population. U.S. Pat. No. 8,131,271 isdirected to categorization of a mobile user profile based upon browsingbehavior. Similarly, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010203876describes a method of inferring user profile properties based uponmobile device usage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

With parenthetical reference to the corresponding parts, portions orsurfaces of the disclosed embodiment, merely for purposes ofillustration and not by way of limitation, the embodiments provide asystem (110) for matching entertainment media and/or branded mediashorts to a target audience (101) using a matching algorithm (163) basedupon social media user profile databases (142) and census baseddemographic population segmenting databases (136). The system includes asoftware application (128) installed on a user portable device (126) anda matching server (134) residing at a remote location. The server (134)and the software application (128) interact with an advertising server(136), a social media server (142), and media content server (171). Thesoftware application may be installed on a user's portable device bydownloading from a third party application distribution platform/store(176). The matching server (134) may include a segment list (135) ofsegment numbers provided from the census based demographic populationsegmenting databases. The matching server (134) may include a mediashort database (137) of links to media shorts tagged with appropriatesegmentation numbers from the segment list. The matching server furthermay contain a user database (141) for storing a user's username and alist of appropriate segmentation numbers. A segment number assignmentalgorithm (161) may also be configured and arranged to run on thematching server and be used for creating the user database. The matchingserver may also have a media short matching algorithm (163) whichgenerates a result list (143) of media short matches to a user's profileand desired media short type. Additionally, the media content server maycontain a database of video short files (172).

In another aspect, provided is a method (210) for matching entertainmentmedia and/or branded media shorts to a target audience having the majorphases of a preinitialization phase (300), an initialization phase(400), a usage phase (500), and a post play phase (600). Thepreinitialization phase may involve the steps of creating a segmentationlist (303), creating a media short database (307), and tagging mediashort entries in the media short database with appropriate segmentationnumbers (309). The initialization phase may involve the steps of havinga user download the software application (402), installing the softwareapplication on a user's portable media device (403), and asking a userfor permission to obtain a user's third party social media profileinformation (405). The initialization phase may also include the stepsof obtaining the social media profile information (409), forwarding theuser profile data from the software application to the matching serverwhere a user database record is created (421), and tagging the userdatabase record with appropriate segmentation numbers (423).

The usage phase may include the steps of having the software applicationask the user for a desired media short duration (502) and ask for adesired media short genre (503). The usage phase may also include thesteps of sending a request from the software application to the matchingserver for matching media shorts (504) and generating a result listusing a matching algorithm (509). Also included in the method may be thestep of having the server transmit a subset of the result list to thesoftware application (511), and displaying the subset of the result listthumbnails and asking the user for a selection (512). Additionally, theusage phase may include the step of the user requesting another set ofrecommendations (514), or the step of the user selecting a media short(515). The usage phase may further include the steps of launching amedia player (517), contacting the matching server for advertising clipinformation (521), and contacting the advertising server for a brandedmedia datastream (523). The usage phase may include the step oflaunching the data stream (525).

The post play phase may include the step of the software applicationdisplaying a graphical user interface asking the user whether to playthe next clip in a series, or whether a new set of recommendations isrequested (602). The post play phase may further include the step ofhaving the user select the next clip in the series and launching themedia stream (604).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first form of the system for matching atarget audience with appropriate media shorts and advertising.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of the method of matching a target audience withappropriate media shorts and advertising.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of the preinitialization phase shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the initialization phase shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of the usage phase shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of the post play phase shown in FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

At the outset, it should be clearly understood that like referencenumerals are intended to identify the same structural elements, portionsor surfaces consistently throughout the several drawing figures, as suchelements, portions or surfaces may be further described or explained bythe entire written specification, of which this detailed description isan integral part. Unless otherwise indicated, the drawings are intendedto be read (e.g., cross-hatching, arrangement of parts, proportion,degree, etc.) together with the specification, and are to be considereda portion of the entire written description of this invention. As usedin the following description, the terms “horizontal”, “vertical”,“left”, “right”, “up” and “down”, as well as adjectival and adverbialderivatives thereof (e.g., “horizontally”, “rightwardly”, “upwardly”,etc.), simply refer to the orientation of the illustrated structure asthe particular drawing figure faces the reader. Similarly, the terms“inwardly” and “outwardly” generally refer to the orientation of asurface relative to its axis of elongation, or axis of rotation, asappropriate.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 1 thereof,a first embodiment of the matching system is shown generally at 110.Matching system 110 comprises the main components of softwareapplication 128 installed on user portable device 126, and matchingserver 134 residing at a remote location. From a high level perspective,server 134 and software application 128 interact with advertising server136, social media server 142, and media content server 171.

Portable device 126 connects to third party application distributionplatform/store 176 in order to install software application 128.Software application 128 has a user interface for interacting with user101. Software application makes a network connection to server 134through link 161. Link 161 is a cellular mobile data connection such as3G, 4G, LTE, CDMA, GSM, EDGE, EVDO or other similar technology.

Server 134 contains several data structures and algorithms. As shown inFIG. 1, server 134 contains segment list 135, media short database 137,user database 141, segment number algorithm 161, short match algorithm163, and result list 143. Segment list 135 provides a predeterminedsegmentation of a target population. For example, one form of segmentlist 135 is a set of segment numbers, in which each segment number isassociated with a set of United States geographic zip codes. In thisexample, each segment number represents a set of the United Statespopulation. Alternative implementations of segment list 135 involve theassociation of set numbers with other population data, such as agegroup, sex, political group, or the like. More specifically, in thisembodiment, segment list 135 utilizes the segment numbers from theConneXions/PRIZM segmentation system provided by The Nielsen Company,New York, N.Y., USA. Segment list 135 may be implemented as a database,such as Microsoft SQL, MySQL, PostgreSQL, or the like, or may beimplemented as a alternative data structure, such as a hash table,dictionary, heap, or other similar data structure. Segmentation list 135is used by segmentation number lookup algorithm 161.

Segmentation number look up algorithm 161 provides a set of segmentationnumbers that are matched to a user profile. A user profile contains dataspecific to a user which is typically maintained by social mediaservices, and typically includes a user's geographic zip code, age,gender, and other similar data. One implementation of the segmentationlook up algorithm takes a user's zip code alone, and looks up allsegmentation numbers in segmentation list 135 associated with the givenzip code. Such look up functionality can be specifically accomplishedthrough an SQL query if segmentation list 135 is a database, or througha hash table look up, if segmentation list 135 is a hash table ordictionary. Other implementations of segmentation number look upalgorithm 161 include using more user profile parameters, such as agegroup, and gender, and involve a matching algorithm such as vector basedsimilarity ranking through cosine similarity, or the like.

Server 134's media short database 137 is a database for containing mediashort data. The data may be links to third party media shorts, such asshort videos, in which each media short link is associated with a set ofsegmentation numbers from segmentation list 135. Alternatively, mediashort database 137 may contain actual media content such as video clipdata files. One type of entry in media short database 137 includes htmladdress links to youtube.com video clips, where each clip is tagged withan appropriate segmentation number determined by a manual review of theclip. For example, a short youtube.com video about parenting may betagged with the segmentation numbers associated with individuals havingchildren. Each media short link in database 137 may also be tagged withother identifying information such as the media short genre, duration,and/or other similar information.

Server 134's user database 141 stores a user's unique identifier and aset of segmentation numbers identified by segmentation number matchalgorithm 161 based upon a given user's profile. A user's uniqueidentifier may be a user's social media username, id number, or thelike.

Server 134's short match algorithm 163, is responsible for finding a setof appropriate database entries in media short database 137, based upona user's segmentation numbers in user database 141, and any other searchparameters provided by a user, such as desired genre or video shortduration. Result list 143 is a temporary data structure for storing theresults from a run of short match algorithm 163.

Server 134 and application 128 contain network socket interfaces for thetransfer of data between each other. These network interfaces may beencrypted, for example, using SSL encryption.

Server 134 also contains network interfaces for interfacing with socialmedia server 142, media content server 171, and advertising server 136.Social media server 142, is a server for a social media site such asfacebook.com, and whose purpose is to provide server 134 with userprofile information. Media content server 171 is a third party mediacontent provided, such as youtube.com, which is capable of streamingvideo shorts to software application 128. Such streaming video shortsmay be relayed through server 134, or be provided directly to softwareapplication 128. Similarly, advertising server 136, provides shortstreaming advertisements to software application 128. Suchadvertisements may be relayed through server 134 or provided directly toapplication 128.

Software application 128 may be implemented as a downloadableapplication such as: an apple IOS application available from Apple'sAppstore, an android application available from Google Play, or othersimilar application technology/platform.

Shown in FIG. 2, is a method of operation 201 for system 110. Method 210has the main phases of: preinitialization phase 300, initializationphase 400, usage phase 500, and post play phase 600. Preinitializationphase 300 includes the steps involved in the preparation and setting upthe necessary data structures on server 134. Initialization phase 400contains the steps that allow a user to download, install, andinitialize software application 128 on a user's portable device 126.Usage phase 500 involves the steps performed in a typical user sittingincluding matching and playing of a matched media short. Post play phase600 involves the steps involving providing a user ability to initiateadditional usage options.

As shown in FIG. 3, preinitialization phase 300 begins with step 303,the creation of segmentation list 135 on server 134. Segmentation list135 is populated with a set of segmentation numbers tagged withdemographic information from a source such as the Connexions/Prizmsegmentation methodology provided by The Nielsen Company, New York, USA.Next, step 307 is the creation of media short database 137 by eithermanual or automatic filling in of external media short links. The mediashort links may point to media content stored either on a third partycontent provider, such as media content server 171, advertising server136, or may point to media content files stored on matching server 134.A relationship may or may not be established with the providers of mediacontent server 171. Step 309 follows, which is the tagging of eachexternal media short link inserted into database 137 with appropriateidentifier data. Tagged data includes segmentation number, media shortduration, and genre. Additional data which may be added to each database137 include the video short's title, description, and a representativethumbnail. After preinitialization phase 300 is complete, initializationphase 400 may begin.

FIG. 4 shows the steps in initialization phase 400. Initialization phase400 begins with step 402, when a user, such as user 101, downloadssoftware application 128 from an application provider. Variousapplication providers are the Apple app store, Google Play, App Brain,or other similar application providers. Next, step 403 is theinstallation of software application 128 by user 101 onto his/herportable media device 126. In step 405, application 128 checks to see ofmedia device 126 is already logged into the target third party socialmedia service or server 142, such as Facebook, and if not, requests user101 to login. This step may be implemented through an applicationprogramming interface provided by the third party social media service,such as the Facebook API. After logging into the social mediaservice/server 142, step 407 involves asking user 101 for permission toaccess the profile data of user 101 from the social media server 142,which user 101 provides in order to proceed. In step 409, the userprofile data is obtained. Step 409 may comprise software application 128interacting with a social media application installed on media device126 through a provided API, and/or may involve server 134 interactingwith social media server 142.

In step 421, the user profile data is received by server 134, and a newdatabase entry in user database 141 is created based on unique data ofthe profile of user 101, such as a Facebook login ID, or other similarunique data. In step 423, a set of segmentation numbers is tagged to theuser database entry in user database 141 by algorithm 161 based upon theuser's profile data. After initialization phase 400 is complete, usagephase 500 may be started.

FIG. 5 shows the steps in usage phase 500. Usage phase 500 starts withstep 502, in which software application 128 asks user 101 the desiredduration for a media short. Optionally, in step 503, softwareapplication 503 will additionally ask user 101 what type of genre mediashort the user desires.

Next, in step 504 software application 128 will send server 134 arequest including the desired media short duration and genre type. Step509 involves algorithm 163 executing a search based upon the user'ssegmentation numbers located in database 141 and the desired media shortduration and genre type. Result list 143 is generated as a result ofthis search. In step 511, server 134 sends back a subset number ofrecommendations of result list 143 to application 128. The number ofrecommendations in this subset may be based upon the type of device user101's media device 126 is. For example, a smartphone may receive fourrecommendations, whereas a tablet device may receive eightrecommendations. One or more of these results may be a paidrecommendation. Included in the results sent back to application 128 isthe media short title 137 a, description 137 b, thumbnail 137 c, andlink 137 d.

In step 512, software application 128 displays the subset of receivedthumbnails through its graphical user interface. In step 513, user 101performs a selection of either one of the media shorts (step 515), or arequest for another subset of media shorts (step 514). If a media shortis selected, by the user pressing on a thumbnail, software application128 displays the title 137 a, description 137 b, thumbnail 137 c, andoptionally a popularity metric. The popularity metric may be a counter,icon such as a number of stars rating, or a thumbs up/thumbs down.

In step 515, the user selects to play a desired media clip. Following,step 517 involves launching an external player application, or launchingan internal media player. In step 521 software media application 128contacts server 134 for advertising clip retrieval. In step 523, server134 contacts advertising server 136 for commercial information and data.The commercial will be matched according to assigned segmentationnumbers of user 101, and then played through the player. After thecommercial is over, in step 525, software application will receive astream video from either server 134 or third party media content server171. Upon completion of playing the media short, post play phase 600 isstarted.

FIG. 6 shows the steps in phase play phase 600. In step 603, softwareapplication 128 presents through its graphical user interface a query asto whether user 101 wants to view the next media short in the series, oranother four recommendations.

Several alternative embodiments or modifications of the disclosedembodiments are possible. For example, in another embodiment, it may beadvantageous to reupload a user's profile data as a function of time.This would accommodate the possibility that a user's profile data maychange over time. For example, every twenty days a user's profile datamay be reobtained from third party social media server/server 142, andthe segmentation numbers associated with user 101 in user database 141will be updated with a new run of segmentation number match algorithm161 based upon the new profile.

In another embodiment, software application 128 may obtain locationbased data, such as GPS or geographic data based upon local wifinetworks. This location based data may be provided to advertising server136 such that the advertising server 136 may provide commercials moreappropriately targeted based upon current geographic location.Additionally, media short match algorithm 163 may also use the locationbased data to create result list 143.

In yet another embodiment, additional data is stored together with auser's entry in user database 141. More specifically a user's mediashort viewing history and a user assigned rating to various media shortsmay be stored in database 141 together with a user's assignedsegmentation numbers. For example, if a user watches the second videoshort in a series, this will cause a positive rating to be applied tothe video short series in user database 141. Additionally, if a usercuts a viewing of a video short before the end of the video, thisinformation will also be stored in a similar fashion as a negativerating of the video short in user database 141. In addition, if thevideo short is shared with others over the third party social mediasystem, this will also be stored in user database 141 as a positiverating. The short match algorithm 163 is enhanced to use this additionaldata in producing the result list 143. Additionally, softwareapplication 128 is modified to ask a user to rate a media short upon theconclusion of playing a given short. Software application 128 will thenforward this rating data to server 134 for storage with a user's entryin user database 141. This effectively creates a feedback loop allowingthe system to progress over time by continuously improving the abilityto provide content most relevant to a user.

The described system and method results in a number of surprisingadvantages. First, a much higher degree of efficiency is obtained in thedelivering branded content to properly target audiences. Because theprovided branded content is selected based upon a user's profile, auser's viewing of the provided content is much more likely to result ina favorable experience. Similarly, since the advertisements provided touser 101 are matched based upon the user's profile, a commercial is muchmore likely to result in a favorable economic benefit for theadvertiser. Several advantages also result from the close integrationwith a third party social media platform. For example, users are able toeasily spread favorable branded content with a large number of friends,who upon the user's own experience and knowledge are properly targetedto enjoy the branded content. Further, direct involvement with the thirdparty social media allows the system to easily obtain accurate andcurrent profile data with minimal effort. Obtaining data from a socialmedia profile is much more efficient than asking a user to manuallyenter profile data, and is much more accurate than guessing a user'sprofile based upon other metrics.

Additionally, the system and method results in an advantageous techniqueof generating revenue by receiving payments from advertisers based uponthe success and quantity of branded content being spread. Thissystem/method is better than existing advertiser payment schemes, suchas pay per click systems, since these systems do not allow leveraging ofsocial media.

Another advantage of the system is that the user experience is tailoredto match the needs of a user having a portable media device. Namely,such a user typically only has short periods of time in which to enjoyshort media clips. The described system and method allows targeting thisspecific niche for synergistically providing mobile users with desiredshort entertainment while allowing advertisers to promote their goods toaccurately targeted audiences. The system uniquely allows for the closeintegration of social media databases and census based demographicpopulation segmentation databases, which results in numerous benefits tothe advertiser as well as the user.

Therefore, while the presently preferred forms of practice in theinvention have been shown and described, and various modificationsthereof discussed, persons skilled in this art will readily appreciatevarious additional changes and modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention, as defined anddifferentiated by the following claim.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: from each individual of aplurality of individuals, requesting, by a specially programmed computersystem, utilizing a first specially programmed software applicationinterface, a consent to obtain an individual social media profile data;based on the consent, electronically obtaining, by the speciallyprogrammed computer system, the individual social media profile data foreach individual of the plurality of individuals from at least one socialmedia electronic data source; for each individual from the plurality ofindividuals, determining, by the specially programmed computer system,at least one individual specific parameter associated with suchindividual based, at least in part, on the individual social mediaprofile data; wherein the at least one individual specific parameterassociated with each individual is based on: i) at least one geographicidentifier associated with a geographic location where such individualresides, ii) an age group associated with such individual, iii) a gendergroup associated with such individual, or iv) any combination thereof;for each individual from the plurality of individuals, matching, by thespecially programmed computer system, the at least one individualspecific parameter associated with each individual to at least onesegment identifier from a plurality of segment identifiers stored in atleast one population electronic data source; wherein the plurality ofsegment identifiers is generated based on a predetermined segmentationof a target population of individuals; wherein the predeterminedsegmentation is based on: i) postal identifiers associated with aparticular geographic locality, ii) age, iii) gender, iv) socialaffiliation, or v) any combination thereof; based on the matching,associating, by the specially programmed computer system, the at leastone segment identifier with the individual social media profile data ofeach individual; and outputting, by the specially programmed computersystem, utilizing a second specially programmed software applicationinterface, at least one advertisement to each individual of theplurality of individuals based on the at least one segment identifierassociated with the individual social media profile data of suchindividual.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least onegeographic identifier is a postal zip code.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the first and the second specially programmed softwareapplication interfaces are displayed on a mobile electronic device ofeach individual.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and thesecond specially programmed software application interfaces are the sameand are displayed on a mobile electronic device of each individual. 5.The method of claim 1, wherein the electronically obtaining of theindividual social media profile data for each individual of theplurality of individuals comprises: electronically and periodicallyobtaining, by the specially programmed computer system, the individualsocial media profile data for each individual of the plurality ofindividuals the individual social media profile data; for eachindividual from the plurality of individuals, determining, by thespecially programmed computer system, at least one change in theindividual social media profile data over a period of time; for eachindividual from the plurality of individuals, changing, by the speciallyprogrammed computer system, the at least one individual specificparameter associated with such individual based, at least in part, onthe at least one change in the individual social media profile data overthe period of time; based on the changing, matching, by the speciallyprogrammed computer system, the at least one individual specificparameter associated with each individual to the at least one segmentidentifier from a plurality of segment identifiers; outputting, by thespecially programmed computer system, at least one advertisement to eachindividual of the plurality of individuals based on the at least onesegment identifier associated with the at least one change in theindividual social media profile data of such individual.
 6. The methodof claim 1, wherein the outputting of the at least one advertisement toeach individual of the plurality of individuals is further based on atleast one present geographic location of such individual.
 7. The methodof claim 1, wherein the matching is further based on a similarityranking.
 8. A system, comprising: at least one specialized computermachine, comprising: a non-transient memory having at least one regionfor storing particular computer executable program code; and at leastone processor for executing the particular program code stored in thememory, wherein the particular program code comprises: code to request,from each individual of a plurality of individuals, utilizing a firstspecially programmed software application interface, a consent to obtainan individual social media profile data; code to electronically obtain,based on the consent, the individual social media profile data for eachindividual of the plurality of individuals from at least one socialmedia electronic data source; code to determine, for each individualfrom the plurality of individuals, at least one individual specificparameter associated with such individual based, at least in part, onthe individual social media profile data; wherein the at least oneindividual specific parameter associated with each individual is basedon: i) at least one geographic identifier associated with a geographiclocation where such individual resides, ii) an age group associated withsuch individual, iii) a gender group associated with such individual, oriv) any combination thereof; code to match, for each individual from theplurality of individuals, the at least one individual specific parameterassociated with each individual to at least one segment identifier froma plurality of segment identifiers stored in at least one populationelectronic data source; wherein the plurality of segment identifiers isgenerated based on a predetermined segmentation of a target populationof individuals; wherein the predetermined segmentation is based on: i)postal identifiers associated with a particular geographic locality, ii)age, iii) gender, iv) social affiliation, or v) any combination thereof;code to, based on the match, associate the at least one segmentidentifier with the individual social media profile data of eachindividual; and code to output, utilizing a second specially programmedsoftware application interface, at least one advertisement to eachindividual of the plurality of individuals based on the at least onesegment identifier associated with the individual social media profiledata of such individual.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the at leastone geographic identifier is a postal zip code.
 10. The system of claim8, wherein the first and the second specially programmed softwareapplication interfaces are displayed on a mobile electronic device ofeach individual.
 11. The system of claim 8, wherein the first and thesecond specially programmed software application interfaces are the sameand are displayed on a mobile electronic device of each individual. 12.The system of claim 8, wherein the code to electronically obtain theindividual social media profile data for each individual of theplurality of individuals further comprises: code to electronically andperiodically obtain the individual social media profile data for eachindividual of the plurality of individuals the individual social mediaprofile data; code to determine, for each individual from the pluralityof individuals, at least one change in the individual social mediaprofile data over a period of time; code to change, for each individualfrom the plurality of individuals, the at least one individual specificparameter associated with such individual based, at least in part, onthe at least one change in the individual social media profile data overthe period of time; code to match, based on the at least one change, theat least one individual specific parameter associated with eachindividual to the at least one segment identifier from a plurality ofsegment identifiers; code to output at least one advertisement to eachindividual of the plurality of individuals based on the at least onesegment identifier associated with the at least one change in theindividual social media profile data of such individual.
 13. The systemof claim 8, wherein the code to output the at least one advertisement toeach individual of the plurality of individuals further uses at leastone present geographic location of such individual.
 14. The system ofclaim 8, wherein the code to match further comprises code to perform asimilarity ranking.